willis



(No Model.)

D. P. WILLIS.

METHOD OF LASTING BOOTS AND SHOES.

NO. 404,455. Patented June 4, 18 89.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DON F. WVILLIS, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JAMES M. GRIFFIN AND JOHN S. GRIFFIN, BOTH OF SAME PLACE.

METHOD OF LASTING BOOTS AND SHOES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 404,455, dated June 4, 1889.

Application filed February 8, 1889. Serial No. 299,201. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, DON F. WILLIS, of Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Method of Lasting Boots and Shoes, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to lasting boots and shoes of that class in which the fore part of the upper has its edge turned outward on the upper surface of its outer sole and secured thereto by suitable fastenings outside of the junction of said upper with the sole.

The object of my invention is to render it practical to make a boot or shoe of that class commonly termed stitch-downs from light stock-such as thin goat-skin, French and American kids, or glove-kid for ladies and childrens wear, which heretofore it has not been practical to do; and it consists in securing the inner sole, whetherof full length or only a half-sole, to the heel portion of a last, having certain novel features to adapt it to the lasting of this class of shoes according to my invention, and which forms the subject of another application of mine of even date herewith, placing the last in the upper, securing the front part of the upper to the last by a single tack driven through the front seam of the quarters near its junction with the vamp, turning over the edge of the heel portion of the upper upon and securing it to the inner sole, then placing the outer sole with the outer face of its fore part properly channeled upon the bottom of the last, andtacking it thereto, then drawing the edge of that portion of the upper that is forward of the heel down past the edge of the outer sole, and securing it to the edge of said sole by tacks driven into said sole-edge with their axes parallel, or nearly so, to the outer and inner faces of said sole.

Figure '1 of the drawings is a perspective view of a lasted shoe ready to be sewed. Fig. 2 is an inverted plan of same drawn to an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the last and lasted shoe on line at a: on Fig. 2, and illustrating the manner of applying the shoe to the presser-foot of the sewingmachine in the act of sewing the upper to the y y on Fig. '2.

In the drawings, A is the last, having the corner of its bottom beveled to an angle of the shank, and E is the outer sole, channeled upon its outer face in the usual manner.

In carrying out my invention I provide a last having the corner usually formed by the junction of the tread-surface with the sides of the last beveled and shaped in the shank and abovethe shank as described in my before-cited other application. I then tack the inner sole, which, preferably, I make of only about half the length of the last, though it may extend the whole length of the last, if

desired, to the last at the heel, then place the upper 13 C over the last, insert a tack through the seam between the quarters near its j unction with the vamp, turn the edge of the heel portion of the upper over upon and secure it to the inner sole, place the outer sole upon the turned-over portion of the upper, the inner sole, and last, and tack itto the last with suitable removable lastingtacks a a, leaving the edge of the upper forward of the heel free or unconfined by said sole. '1 then draw the upper down outside of and past the edge of the outer sole, around the whole fore part thereof, and secure it to said sole by driving tacks b I) through the upper into the edge of the sole, with their axes parallel, or nearly so,

to the inner and outer faces of said sole, as

shown in the several views of the drawings.

The upper canbe drawn sufficiently tight with the fingers when the light stocks before mentioned are used.

When the upper has been secured, as described, to the edge of the outer sole, the shoe is ready to be sewed, and is taken to a solesewing machine and presented to the presser- 5 foot F, as shown in Fig. 3, with the nose of the'horn supportingthe sole, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, whereby the upper is sole; and Fig. 4 is a'transverse section on line 50 pressed under the bevel of the last, and as the tacks in the edge of the sole hold the upper thereto, it follows that the upper is drawn very taut over the last bythe pressure of the presser-foot in the operation of sewing the upper to the sole.

\Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. The method of lasting boots and shoes which consists in securing the heel portion of the inner sole to the last, placing the last Within the upper, securing the fore part of the upper to the instep of the last, turning the edge of the heel portion of the upper over upon and securing it to the inner sole, placing the outer sole upon the turned-over heel portion of the upper, the inner sole, and the last, and securing it thereto, leaving the edge of the fore part of the upper free or unconfined by said. sole, then drawing the unconfined edge of the upper down over the edge of the outer sole and securing it to the outer edge of said sole.

2. The method of lasting boots and shoes which consists in partially straining the upper over the last in the act of assembling the parts preparatory to stitching the sole to the upper, securing the edge of the upper to the edge of the outer sole, and then completing the straining of the upper by the act of stitching the upper to the sole.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses, on this 5th day of February, A. D. 1889.

DON F. \VILLIS.

\Yitnesses:

N. G. LOMBARD, WALTER E. LOMBARD. 

